Such machines are known and comprise modules that are organized to perform specialized functions, for example: a feeder module, one or more printer modules, at least one slotter and scorer module, and/or at least one cutter module. These modules are displaceable along guide elements secured to the ground and they are suitable for being locked to one another in the alignment laid down.
The rotary means in each module that participate in performing the function of that module are integral with driven gearing that projects from the module and meshes with driving gearing which is set back in the adjacent module. The driving gearing is connected via complex moving parts to the rotary means of said adjacent module that participate in performing the function thereof. Said driving gearing of the first-mentioned module meshes continuously with the driven gearing thereof.
The known apparatus as defined above suffers from major drawbacks relating to gear meshing, and can only be really effective if the gearing is properly lubricated and is put accurately into engagement when the modules are moved towards each other and locked together.
Unfortunately, in order to be able to mesh, the gearing must project from housings provided therefor, and it is then inevitable that lubricant will drip, in particular from the driven gearing since that is the gearing which projects. Whatever sealing means may be implemented, lubricant escapes and dirties the modules and the ground, and sometimes also the packages and the rotary members that engage them and process them.
In addition, meshing is never perfect since it depends, in particular, on the modules pressing properly against each other, on their respective heights coinciding, and on the cleanness of the guide means on the ground which can often become clogged with lubricant, dust, cardboard waste, etc. Under such conditions, teeth may be damaged, slack may occur that is prejudicial to proper performance of each treatment operation, and also to the accuracy and the linking of the successive treatments performed by the machine.
Finally, those known modules are noisy and are detrimental for personnel operating them.
British patent No. 2 233 066 described a machine of this type but in which improvements are provided. In particular, the transmissions transmitting rotary motion from one module to the next do not operate by meshing but are replaced by lengths of shaft that are normally in alignment parallel to the direction in which the modules are moved towards and away from one another. The driving gearing and the driven gearing in each module is omitted and replaced by a claw type coupling, which includes male teeth on one length of shaft and female teeth connected via fluting to an adjacent length of shaft.
To ensure that the angular relationship between shafts is conserved when modules are moved apart and together, the teeth in each coupling are capable of engaging in a single mutual angular relationship only by having teeth that vary in pitch and in width. In addition, a spring is provided between the female set of teeth and the corresponding fluted length of shaft. Under such circumstances, to couple together the lengths of shaft in two adjacent modules, it is necessary to bring the set of teeth into face-to-face contact with the moving module continuing to apply pressure against the fixed module while the length of shaft having the female set of teeth rotates slowly: then, once the two sets of teeth are in proper angular relationship, the spring causes them to engage.
That type of coupling suffers from the drawback of requiring the driving shaft to be caused to rotate slowly in order to ensure that the corresponding coupling engages. Consequently, whenever modules are brought together, the driving shaft is caused to rotate numerous times, and this means that the modules must be brought together while the line of modules is empty, since otherwise lack of synchronization between the various lengths of shaft would inevitably lead to cardboard jamming.
In addition, each module contains the same gearing as conventional modules except for the sole difference of said gearing being driven from the corresponding length of shaft via a pair of conical gear wheels. Under such conditions, the same drawbacks arise as those mentioned for prior modules: oil leaks, noise, play and wear. . .
An object of the present invention is to remedy all of these drawbacks of the above-mentioned known machines, in particular by omitting all lubrication means (pumps, ducting, housing, . . .) and thus the risks of oil leaks, and by transmitting motion from one module to the next extremely accurately with coupling taking place automatically, safely, reliably, and without any risk of angular offsets between the modules, and simultaneously considerably attenuating noise.